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| The Taoist Concept of Dao: A Study Based on Analogy |
| LI Wei |
| Department of Philosophy, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510275 |
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Abstract Dao, a pivotal concept of Chinese thought,is generally interpreted abstractly as “principle”, “law” and “entity” of everything. However, the ancient Chinese people, especially Taoists, did not discuss dao in such an abstract way. Instead, they used analogies when talking about dao. For example: (1) when it is analogous to space or something with a hollow structure, dao refers to an inclusive or not controlling attitude and action; (2) when it is analogous to the measurement followed in the manufacturing process, dao refers to governance standards that can be generally adopted and therefore do not depend on the qualifications of the rulers; (3) when it is analogous to a ring or ring-shaped objects, dao refers to the consistent and periodical ultimate law. It can be seen that the rich connotation of dao in Chinese thought can be revealed better with analogies than with abstract terms such as “principle”, “law” and “entity”. Given that these terms are borrowed from Western philosophy, it is obvious that the popular abstract interpretation not only fails to reveal what dao is, but that Chinese philosophy is in trouble for limited language expressions, namely, it is almost impossible to talk about Chinese thought in philosophical language without employing the abstract terms borrowed from the West. The analogy can provide a way out of the constraint of language, enabling researchers to avoid those borrowed words with complex origins and obscure meanings and provide more tangible explanations for concepts.
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Received: 10 July 2020
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2020, Vol. 37 
